4 of 24 jobs ready to go

AIKEN --- Of the two-dozen identified road improvement projects in Aiken County, only four are deemed "shovel-ready" and eligible to receive $2.9 million in funds allocated to the county through the federal stimulus package.

"I believe that if we can't come up with a project or a couple of projects those funds will go away," said Roger LeDuc, Aiken city manager and a member of the South Carolina subcommittee of the Augusta Regional Transportation Study.

The subcommittee met Thursday and approved a list of road projects to be submitted to the state Highway Department for consideration under the economic stimulus bill passed earlier this week.

But that list of 24 projects will need to be whittled down to those that can begin immediately.

Also on Thursday the South Carolina Transportation Committee approved the use of $200 million in federal stimulus funds for road projects that are shovel-ready, meaning the preliminary engineering work, right-of-way acquisitions and environmental impact studies have either been completed or will be completed within 120 days and that project contracts can be awarded.

In Aiken County, "very few are ready or close to being ready," said Lark Jones, North Augusta's mayor and vice chairman of the subcommittee.

The projects tentatively identified as falling within the guidelines are:

- Intersection improvements at Edgefield Road and Walnut Lane in North Augusta

- Extending West Avenue in North Augusta from Bluff Avenue into the North Augusta Riverfront area

- A right turn lane from Silver Bluff Road onto Dougherty Road in Aiken

- Widening of U.S. Highway 78 to four lanes from East Pine Log Road to Old Dibble Road in Aiken.

The list of 24 projects will be narrowed down, and the subcommittee will hold another meeting in March to approve submitting the projects to the state.

"If they are approved, it will release up some funding that we can push onto other projects," said Mr. Jones, who also railed against the restrictive guidelines set forth by the government for spending the money.

"Our federal government has passed a multibillion-dollar stimulus package and at the same time they haven't relaxed any of the regulations to do a project" that would promote stimulus, he said.

Reach Michelle Guffey at (803) 648-1395, ext. 110, or michelle.guffey@augustachronicle.com.